Self-Healing System Applied to Aviation 76
ScienceDaily is reporting that the self-healing materials are being used in some new aircraft designs. We covered several self-healing systems in the past months, but it is nice to see it starting to find practical applications. "This simple but ingenious technique, similar to the bruising and bleeding/healing processes we see after we cut ourselves, has been developed by aerospace engineers at Bristol University, with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It has potential to be applied wherever fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are used. These lightweight, high-performance materials are proving increasingly popular not only in aircraft but also in car, wind turbine and even spacecraft manufacture. The new self-repair system could therefore have an impact in all these fields."
Potential (Score:5, Interesting)
Since I am far from an expert on the subject... what are the chances this same technology could be applied to prosthetics? If that were doable, I think it'd be an excellent market for allowing people to use prosthetics and be able to do more rigorous physical work.
Might cut down on the profits of companies that make prosthetics, though, if the things just fix themselves instead of needing to be replaced. :)
Currently (Score:3, Interesting)
Quite clever, actually. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Quite clever, actually. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Quite clever, actually. (Score:3, Interesting)
Still, probably better than the explosive decompressions one gets with aluminum.
Back in the old days, a good agent for finding these problems was the tar from cigarette smoke. If a small hole or crack occurred, the sludge from accumulated smoke would seep out of the crack under pressure and produce a visible stain. The crack would often self seal, although obviously would not prevent the crack from propagating, and this only worked on the elements comprising the pressure vessel.